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9.13.2010

How I Paint and Distress a Dresser: In a Somewhat Haphazard Fashion.

Clever title, eh?

I got this supremely beautiful dresser from my friend Clara, and it's been languishing in my garage for a couple months. I just didn't know what I wanted to do with it, other than cover it in paint. BORRRRING.

I've been wanting to try dry brushing with a couple colors on raw wood that has lots of grain showing, and hot dang! Inspiration struck. So I finally hauled my rear out there, put it on an old duvet cover, removed the hardware and gave it some love. Here's the after:

Now prepare yourself for a dramatic play by play including video of how the deed was done.

Because this piece didn't have any real finish left....it was almost nekkid, I just sanded it with a medium grit sanding sponge, wiped it off with dollar store baby wipes, then wiped it down really well with an old t-shirt using this:

Then went straight to my trusty mistints and pulled out some greens.

Now remember, I'm just kinda playing around. The only way to get over your fear of messing up is by simply jumping into a project....just be sure it's not your great gramma's dining hutch for your first try. It's also nice to use paint you got for free or almost free. Each time I paint a piece I learn something new....and usually by messing up. I'm to a point now where the mess-ups don't happen as frequently, and I can actually use some tricks of the trade.

But every piece evolves as you're working on it, and if you're taking the time to listen, it'll tell you what will work best. And it just might not be a glossy, factory finish....it might want the drunk person look. Be glad if that's what it tells you because it's a very forgiving process :) Dry brushing, mixing up cans of ooops paint, and distressing are the fancy names for getting the 'drunk person painted this' look. Just thought I'd clue you in there.

And finger paint the color on the lid so you feel like a professional at Home Depot without the orange hair dryer. It also helps to write where you used this color if you've mixed up say, four thousand teal/aqua/turquoise-y shades. Hadn't done that yet in the pic. Uh, still haven't.

So this dresser was whining about being just spray painted heirloom white, and was begging to be adorned in a worn, beachy cottage look. It needed to be touched with human hands, sanded and coaxed and stroked back to life. So I just pretended I was a drunk person and brushed that paint on. Watch me in action, and be lulled to sleep amazed:

PART I

PART II

Shoulda done some serious editing, and maybe taken some speech classes in high school, but honestly, you're lucky I didn't show you the clip with my bat wings flapping whilst going back and forth over the top with my brush. I'm also not exactly sure why my skin is Ompa-Loompa orange.....Anyway, obviously, I don't usually go with a set-in-stone plan when I'm playing. There are times I do have a plan and follow it perfectly, but that's happened about ........ok, it's never happened.

Oh look, here's a random shot of what my guys were doing while I was DIY'ing...

Okay, well then. Homeschooling creativity at its finest, right there.

So that took all of a couple hours. I felt invested in it....more-so than when I spray paint a piece. I hand-mixed the colors. I fiddled with different sand papers. My hands touched every surface. I felt like I was in preschool again. This is playtime, girls. Seriously. I'm learning to be patient and to respect the pieces I work on. So far, that's serving me well. So well that I'm considering re-doing several of my sprayed pieces. Working on projects like this is very theraputic, cathartic, and makes you feel all ying-yangy. Except when you're faced with this:

And you realize you've done this:

And ya have to use some of this:

To fix this:

And in order to do that, you have to do thist:

And don't forget this:

Before getting to this:

Because you've visited every Menards/Home Depot/Lowes/Do It Best in the midwest and just decided to go with what 'cha had to begin with. *rolling eyes*

Speaking of techniques. (Was I? No? Ah, well go with me here anyway). There are so many ways to age a painted piece. The stuff I did in this post was specific for an antique, almost nekkid wood dresser. I basically just got clued in to what the dresser wanted to wear, then worked backward to figure out how to prep and paint it.

Heres' the steps for my Looks Like a Drunk Person Painted It Dry Brush Technique, as shown in the oscar-worthy videos:
~Lightly sand/wipe down (or strip old finish to get down to fairly raw wood) and use deglosser/cleaner.
~Dry brush one color in random patches smoothing out the paint with the grain, using both the flat and side surfaces of the brush.
~Dry brush a second color in the same manner.
~Feel free to repeat the last two steps till the piece screams it's had enough, goshdarnit.
~Use coarse sandpaper to distress edges
~Use medium grit to smooth everything down
~Wipe on and buff out a couple coats of paste wax or Howards Feed and Wax.

One nice thing about dry brushing is that it soaks into the wood and dries very quickly. It's about as close to instant gratification as you can get with a paint brush.

Here's a few more 'afters':

It seems to take on a really green cast in these pics, but it has more blue in person.

Unfortunately I don't have anyplace to put it! Is there anyone local out there who might be interested? Shoot me an email and I'll give you the info.

Hope you've gleaned some info or was at least entertained by my tutorial on painting like a drunk person. Let me know if you have any other questions. I'm working on doing other tutes like this too, because I just know how much my readers enjoy my mad filming skillz.

140 comments:

oh my my! I have become obsessed with painted furniture, mostly greens and turquoise! Love the detail on the dresser. Thanks for letting me look. I am visiting from Naps on the porch even though you posted way before me, your picture caught my eye! LOVE!Karen

I have a piece of furniture just sitting in my dining room waiting for me to get to it.. this post of your dresser gave me the inspiration.. my side table is raw wood with a sage green stain pealing off.. so easy to do this to... thank you so much!NiceSandy

Sooo very b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l! Wow! I've been desperately looking for a piece as lovely as that so I can do just the same! ;) Yours turned out wonderful! and thanks for posting the instructions... I'm copying it for later reference. Thanks much! And thanks for participating in "Show Off Your Cottage Monday" and bringing me here!

Girl, that is FAB-U-LUST!! I want it! It's on wheels so just put a note on it and send it down the interstate. It'll get here eventually and a little more wear and weather will only make it better.Your boys are great. I love random odd behavior.

LOVE your dresser! Thanks for the tutorials~I realized what I've been doing wrong when I've been dry brushing some pieces. I'm not doing chunky enough spots, and I'm not going far enough with any of it! I think I've gone to far but NO~not far enough. Ha! I can do this now!

Dang, that looks purdy! I loved the videos too. Can I have another diet coke? Maybe I will try this with my black table but with creams and whites dry brushed on and let the black peak through. If it looks hideous I can always just paint it again right? How did you like the wax stuff?

you are so funny! the dresser id gorgeous, but i am seriously thinking i now need ahair dryer in my workspace so i can feel like a pro. and maybe a bright orange apron. ;)btw, thanks for your comments on my china cabinet. milkweed stain is by cabot brand, and i actually got it in a sample size at the habitat restore. not sure where to get it otherwise!

What a gorgeous dresser! I am in love with the color! How cool that you created if from "ooops" paint! I just finished watching your video, and it was awesome! thanks for all of the great tips! Sounds like I would need to drink a few glasses of Pinot Grigio before beginning my project :)

Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! I have two "nekkid" dressers right now and I know exactly what color to do them...you are so inspiring to me, a most inexperienced painter. I CAN'T WAIT to try it! I want to make a drunk man proud...and I SHALL!XOXOJoniLOVE your blog! I posted your button and link on my blog list!

Love it! This is truly a great piece! I must say, it did my heart good to see a little paint on your fingers. My hubby always complains that I end up with as much paint on me as I do on my project. I can't understand how someone can paint and not get a spot on them! You did an amazing job, thanks for sharing the how too!

I looks really pretty, thanks for the tips! So I have one question- can you still use wax on a semi gloss surface or is it better to use a flatter paint if you want to use the wax? I'm planning to do a similar piece I just can't decide which paint to get.Oh, and I would find a place for the dresser, it's just too cute to get rid of!

Thank you, thank you, thank you.I LOVED that you posted an "overly detailed" video. Most bloggers just write what they did because they think it wasn't much to it. Since I haven't re-done a big piece yet, but have big plans once we are able to move out of our apartment, I need to SEE how they did it. By the way, I'm Becky, nice to meet you! found you from Shabby Chic Cottage transformation Thursday.

O my goodness! I love love love the dresser, and I'm chomping at the bit to go and try that on some piece of furniture.Now I have an excuse to go thrifting again. LOLReally enjoyed hanging out with you. I'm a new follower. Stop by my blog anytime..

You did a beautiful job, thanks for sharing, I watched your videos too! I think I might try that technique today!! BTW I am your newest follower, I found you on Transformation Thursday, the color caught my eye.

Loved watching you do this process...I have several pieces I have been reluctant to paint! This is exactly the look I wanted but didn't know how to get it...NOW I can do it!!! I don't drink but maybe I can aquire the "Drunk Man" technique from watching your video!Thanks for sharing,deb

Wow Cindy, this is incredible! Your tutorial video was excellent, loved the casual way you did it and I enjoyed our Little Debbie and diet Coke!!! The dresser is just gorgeous and I love your technique, thanks so much for linking into VIF! LOVE IT!!!xo,Debra

OMG....LOVE the tutorial and the post. The chest came out great! i WISH I were your neighbor....we'd have fun together in the garage. I've been snagging up mis-tints for a while now and since the weather is finally turning manageable (Under 95 degrees--LOL) I might end up in the garage soon and posting about my stuff too! :)

I love it! Painting like a drunk person. I'm all up into the shabbying stuff but I always wondered how to get the, there have been 12 different coats of paint put on this piece and now it's worn off and they all come through. I just remodeled my cottage and finally getting to the fun bits like re inventing old pieces to fit in. Thanks for the tutorial - I love your blog.

Awesome! Thanks for taking the time to show how you did it. If I lived near you and had the money I would have bought it. Anyway, I have a small old drop leaf table and some chairs that I'd like to paint that way. Keep up the great work! Sue aka Melancholy Specter

Holy crap!!! You may have just solved my kitchen island how-the-heck-to-paint-without-covering-the-entire-kitchen-in-plastic dilemma! The old dry brush technique!!!! Brilliant, especially since the thing currently has a maple finish which I need to transform to MS Timothy Hay green which makes the rub-through technique perfection! Now, if you could just direct your attention to this sucky economy....

You are seriously funny...or is that funny, seriously! Well, you know what I mean. I love the color combo and the sort of extreme amount of wood tone left showing. I used a similar technique ( as if drunk painters have techniques)recently but your project makes me want to go back and add a lot more of the second color. I'm inspired. Lindy

It looks fabulous, Cindy! I love the color you came up with using your mistints and sale paints. What did we do before mistints anyway?

We had a forlorn little Victorian table just "languishing" here at the cottage, and after a bit of repair work, we used an aqua mistint to give her a bit of TLC. She would have been the perfect playmate for your dresser. LOL

You can take a peek at her here:http://thebrambleberrycottage.blogspot.com/2010/03/aqua-therapy.html

Thanks for linking to my party. I would love to have you join me each week.

This is such a cool technique. I'm always scared when facing a project with a paintbrush...I think to myself "I could RUIN this piece if I'm not careful and clean"....but you've inspired me! I've been in search for a dresser. once I find one, I think this is what I'll do with it! Thank you! here's my blog! I'll make sure to link back to your video when my dressers' in the making!

I love this piece. You did an awesome job. I've featured it as one of the inspiration pieces for my soon-to-be guest bedroom. I hope you don't mind that I used one of your pictures. I've given you credit and posted links to this page and your blog.

I was just seeking this information for a while. After 6 hours of continuous Googleing, at last I got it in your website. I wonder what is the lack of Google strategy that do not rank this type of informative sites in top of the list. Generally the top sites are full of garbage.Adams Golf Idea Tech V3 Hybrid Golf Club

If you find yourself in need of a storage space for your kids' clothing or toys, you wouldn't want something that's fancy and may be passed on through generations as an heirloom. Use less expensive wood on this type of dresser so that you may get quality without hurting your purse.

Just wanted to say that while searching for a good diy chalk paint/distressed tutorial I came upon yours. I laughed and learned! What fun you must be. Thank you for the smiles and the good info. I want a little less worn look, but from your video got some good pointers. New to the blogging world, but yours sure was fun and informative. Keep them coming! Regards,Bran

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Welcome to ::cottage instincts:: where I hope to inspire folks to discover their own personal style by following their gut. I love to see others hone their instincts, creating unique spaces for themselves and those they love. Because, seriously, who wants to live in a catalogue?